Wednesday, May 04, 2016

Why is Blogging Dying?

This is a surprise post as I had no plan to write on this. But I have to.

As I see the wild fires ravaging Fort McMurray (and a silent prayer goes out for them), I see why the two forces that blogging used to make fun of - traditional media and social media - come to the fore in reporting this story, while bloggers lag far behind.

There were many reasons why bloggers used to make fun of traditional media. They were the establishment, they were dinosaurs, they had an agenda, they had to toe the party line ... etc. etc. These were (at some times) valid concerns, and bloggers were at the forefront of breaking stories. They were beholden to no one and could write whatever they damn pleased.

In the 2005s, it was so. Bloggers were suddenly the new cool thing. The Liberal party leadership convention that ultimately chose Stephane Dion had a blogger outreach program and a place for bloggers at their convention. I know, because I was one of the bloggers. At that time I used to blog (actively) on Crescent Canuck.

Slowly but surely, traditional media fought back. They had more resources to cover a story, had more experience in prioritizing stories, and were actually accountable (to a degree) for telling the truth. They had more credibility. Reporters also became bloggers (or had a blog). Some bloggers became news agencies, such as Doha News.

At the same time, social media such as Twitter and Facebook were breaking ground. At first we bloggers rubbished these sites (ironically the same way newspapers rubbished bloggers). 140 characters is too small to express a complex thought on a complicated issue, we argued (true). But just like Trump followers don't care for the truth, Twitter interactions never cared for the nuances that a blog could provide.

Today, blogging is cumbersome. It's far easier to interact on Twitter or post on Facebook. Blogging platforms have simply not kept up. At the same time, the good bloggers are those who blog often, are corporate and made themselves semi professional. Amateur blogging, as blogging was mostly, is dying.

Partly it is also the sign of the times. Nowadays we simply don't have the time to read a person's thoughts in the form of a blog post. Much easier to read a small tweet, and respond. And that, in the end, is why blogging is slowly dying.

Now, please share this article on Twitter!

8 comments:

Tanvi from tanvii.com said...

I do think blogging has already past its peak, but I do not think it is dying (or will die any time soon). Simply because there will always be people who will need a medium to express themselves. Although, I do think that a lot of people have started blogging on Facebook itself. They do not feel the need to have a website when they can say what they want to there as there is no word limit.

∞ © tanvii.com ∞

nadia said...

I agree with Tanvi Tastogi. It all depends on how readers consume information. Blogging is a trend, like everything else, and has its peak and decline. But I also don't think it's dying. I can give my example, where I blog once a month now (as opposed to once a week a couple of years ago) and this is mainly because I don't have time anymore. Therefore, it's easier for me to upload a picture on Instagram or post on Twitter and get instant response. This convenience makes most bloggers lazy. And like you said, the readers are now less patient or have less time to go through an entire post.

But then I always have readers who visit the blog for reviews and Hajj/Umrah related articles. There are emails with enquiries every day. At least here in Dubai, blogging (food, lifestyle, fashion) is still a big thing.

Don't use this post as an excuse to stop blogging though :D


mezba said...

Hi Tanvi,

I think you are correct. I see lots of people expressing themselves (and debating) on Facebook now.

Tambi Dude said...

Blogging is facing the same fate what usenet (newsgroups ) faced 10-15 years ago, that is irrelevance and eventual extinction. After all people can only spend that much time surfing, so they would rather discuss it at the place they spend most of their net time (think twitter , facebook).

Grace @ Sandier Pastures said...

I agree with Nadia on the thought that other social media platforms makes some bloggers lazy. ME!! I would still prefer to write extensively on my blog though, whenever I find the time. The funny thing is, sometimes, when I attempt to post on Facebook or Instagram and find it too long, I get a light bulb moment and tell myself "Hey, this would make a great blog post!" and then I make it a blog post! LOL

mezba said...

Nadia, I think it also has something to do with the demise of Google Reader. I am not sure why, but ever since that finished I lost count of many of the great bloggers I used to follow. It's also hard discovering new good ones!

Ravi, I agree.

mezba said...

Grace, the funny part is... if I have a thoughtful argument I post it on the blog and post a link on Facebook, and more people have better discussions on facebook than on the blog!

Tambi Dude said...

BTW I think technical Blogs are still pretty active. In fact they have become better with more interactive media
embedded in it. And Twitter complements it as a broadcasting feed. Most the technical blogs I follow come via Twitter.

@mezba: RSS is so passe. These days it is Twitter. I bet most of the great bloggers you lost track of, have twitter account.

Same Twitter for other social media is nothing but a troll magnet.